Red Raider Preview: No. 3 Kansas

Saturday, January 7

Lawrence, KS

6:15 PM

Texas Tech Athletics

No. 3 Kansas

January 06, 2017 | Men's Basketball

Game15KansasNotes

The Red Raiders will look for the program’s first win in Lawrence on Saturday.

LAWRENCE, Kansas – The Texas Tech men's basketball team will face back-to-back ranked opponents for the first time this season when the Red Raiders visit No. 3 Kansas on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.

Tip time is slated for 6:15 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised by ESPN2 in addition to the Watch ESPN app. Bob Wischusen and Fran Fraschilla will serve as the announcing team.

The Texas Tech Sports Network will carry the game live on its flagship stations 97.3 FM, 100.7 FM and 950 AM in Lubbock. Geoff Haxton and Chris Level will have the call. The radio broadcast also will be available on the Texas Tech Sports Network radio affiliates, online at www.TexasTech.com and the TuneIn Radio app. Fans can interact live with Saturday's broadcast @GunsUpRadio on Twitter.

Texas Tech (12-2, 1-1 Big 12) grinded out a dramatic 77-76 overtime victory over No. 7 West Virginia to even up its Big 12 record on Tuesday. The Red Raiders erased a seven-point deficit hole early during the second half to earn their third consecutive home game over a ranked opponents. The win also snapped an eight-game regular season losing streak to the Mountaineers.

Kansas (13-1, 2-0 Big 12) holds a No. 3 ranking in this week's Associated Press poll. The 12-time defending Big 12 regular season champions have won a pair of tightly-contested decisions versus TCU (86-80) and Kansas State (90-88) to begin conference play. The Jayhawks have won their last 47 games and carry a 213-9 record inside Allen Fieldhouse under head coach Bill Self.

"Low turnovers were so important against West Virginia, and it's much of the same with a very talented Kansas game," Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. "The best thing they do on offense is their transition game with their great players and their rebounding. We have to really control the game to do that, and low turnovers are always very important to us."

Kansas has won 31 of the 35 all-time meetings which includes 14 straight in the series dating back to the 2008-09 season. The Jayhawks have emerged with double digit wins on 12 occasions with the exceptions being a 64-63 decision on Feb. 18, 2014 in Lubbock and a 67-58 matchup last season in Lawrence.

About Texas Tech
The Red Raiders are rated among the NCAA Top 25 in field goal percentage (51.4 – 4th), rebounding margin (+10.6 – 6th), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.50 – 14th), scoring defense (61.1 – 15th), and three-point field goal percentage (39.8 – 23rd).

Keenan Evans headlines the team with 13.4 points per game and piled up double digit points in 11 of 14 games on the season. The 13.4 points per game is 10th, and he's buried 10 of his 22 treys over his last five games. Evans has handed out 37 assists versus 15 turnovers in Tech's last 10 games.

Anthony Livingston has notched 12.9 points per game which ranks 12th in the Big 12 rankings. He has come away with 10-plus points in three straight games and provided the heroics with the game-winning three-pointer with 4.6 seconds left in overtime versus No. 7 West Virginia last time out. Livingston has hit on 45.0 percent of his treys which is sixth in the Big 12.

Zach Smith has improved his mark to 13.2 points per game with eight of last 10 games in double figures. He pumped in 15 points during the WVU game and has averaged 10.5 rebounds per game during the young Big 12 campaign. Smith is a fixture on the Big 12 lists with a 59.8 field goal clip (3rd), 1.8 blocks per game (6th) and 12.1 points per game (17th).

Aaron Ross has come off the bench in his last five games since returning to the lineup from injury. He has dialed up 10.8 points per game and will look to regain his form after being limited 5.5 points per game in his first two Big 12 outings. Ross has hit 12 of his 21 attempts on treys.

Devon Thomas has dished out a team-leading 54 assists after having 44 assists all of last season. His 4.5 assist-to-turnover ratio is tied for second, while his 3.9 assists per game are tied for 10th in the Big 12. Thomas has had five games with over five assists this season.

Justin Gray has averaged 9.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. He has sank 55-of-83 on his two-point attempts and his 59.4 shooting percentage is fourth in the Big 12. Gray has totaled 16 blocks on the defensive end, one away from his mark last season.

Thomas Brandsma, Shadell Millinghaus, Norense Odiase, Niem Stevenson and Matthew Temple round out Texas Tech's 11-man playing rotation. Stevenson has garnered 10.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in his first two Big 12 games whereas Millinghaus added six points, two rebounds and a strong defensive effort versus WVU's Jevon Carter.

"It's a big part of our identity. We have confidence in all 11 of our players," Beard said. "At this point in the season, I don't think we have any newcomers anymore. We've played 14 games, and we've been together as a team for almost nine months now. Guys like Niem and Shadell, we expect them to play well in big moments, and I was proud of them."

About Kansas
The Jayhawks have reeled off the nation's third-longest winning streak at 13 consecutive games only behind Big 12 co-leader Baylor (14) and Gonzaga (14). Kansas has piled up 86.8 points per game and eclipsed the 86-point mark in eight of his last nine contests.

KU is second in the Big 12 and fifth nationally with a 51.2 field goal percentage. The Jayhawks also have canned a Big 12-leading and sixth in the nation with a 41.6 three-point field goal clip.

Frank Mason III, a preseason All-Big 12 pick, is second on the Big 12 leaderboard with 19.5 points per game. He has provided seven games of 20-plus point efforts and has led Kansas in scoring during 10 of 14 games this season. Mason has buried 50.8 percent of his three-point shots, also second in Big 12. He has distributed a Big 12-best 5.8 assists per game.
Landen Lucas has found his groove with 16.5 points and 14.5 rebounds per game from the interior. The reigning Big 12 Player of the Week has hit on 15-of-19 from the floor during the early conference season. Lucas came away with a career-high 18 points versus Kansas State after he pulled a career-best 17 rebounds during the TCU game.

Devonte' Graham has chipped in 12.5 points, 4.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Like Mason, Graham has knocked down 31 three-pointers on the season. He has compiled double figures in 12 of 14 games on the season.

Josh Jackson, the preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year, has lived up to the high expectations with 15.2 points per game which is tops among league freshmen. He is coming off a season-high tying 22 points coupled with nine rebounds against Kansas State on Tuesday. On the defensive end, Jackson has amassed a team-leading 19 block shots.

Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk is KU's most-improved player jumping his average from 5.4 points to 11.1 points per game last season. He has registered double figures in eight consecutive games and scorched the nets for a season's best 20 points at UNLV on Dec. 22. He has already drained 32 treys after hitting 37 total three-pointers all of last season.

"Basically, Kansas plays two point guards with Mason and Graham," Beard said. "They can beat with the pass or their own scoring abilities. Communication is everything for us. We can't have defensive lapses because a simple mistake against Kansas can lead to a 6-0 run, and there goes the crowd. Communication is one of the big parts of our game plan."

Up Next
Texas Tech opens a stretch of three of its next four games at home beginning with Kansas State on Tuesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised by ESPNEWS along with the Watch ESPN app.

Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the men's basketball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/TexasTechMBB along with @TexasTechMBB on Twitter and Instagram.

Fans can purchase tickets to Tuesday's game for as low as $12 online at www.TexasTech.com or in person at the United Supermarkets Arena Ticket Office which opens 90 minutes prior to tipoff.

Texas Tech is encouraging fans to arrive as early as possible to men's and women's basketball home games due to the temporary closure to the entrance and exit of the Commuter West Lot at the Texas Tech Parkway and Knoxville Avenue. This entrance and exit will be closed from Dec. 5 to Jan. 13 for construction. Fans are asked to use the entrances and exits off Indiana Avenue when arriving from the north along with the entrances and exits at Indiana Avenue and 18th Street when arriving from 19th Street or the Marsha Sharp Freeway.